But during his first 200 days in office, Trump signed more than Obama averaged in a year.

Executive orders are assigned numbers and published in the federal register, similar to laws passed by Congress, and they typically direct members of the executive branch to follow a new policy or directive.

Scholars have typically used the number of executive orders per term to measure how much presidents have exercised their power. George Washington signed eight his entire time in office, according to the American Presidency Project, while Franklin Delano Roosevelt signed more than 3,700.

In his two terms, Obama issued 277 executive orders, a total number on par with his modern predecessors, but the lowest per-year average (35) in 120 years. Trump signed 42 executive orders in 200 days.